Like A Stone
by BoomChick
Summary: If Cloud Strife wasn't alone. If there was an extra pair of hands. If there was just one more survivor struggling against the planet's death... How much could have been averted? A Final Fantasy 7 reimagining from the very beginning, when Avalanche takes in more than one member before their bombing mission. Warning: Violence, trauma [Unfinished]


**Author's Note:** Updates will be sporadic, many liberties will be taken, many mistakes will be made, many adventures will be had. Welcome to Like a Stone—A FFVII UA. Warnings for violence, eventual gore, flashbacks, emotionally traumatic situations, and other canon-compliant warnings.

New Game selected. (Best of luck.)

 **Chapter One**

Tifa spent a long time standing by the train station, just watching as the dead man looked around. He had to be dead. She'd lived the last four years of her life with him dead and burned like the rest of her home.

But dead men didn't stretch their arms over their heads and shift their weight from one booted foot to the other. And she had never seen a dead man look so utterly lost. He stood there, scuffing his feet, with an enormous blade strapped to his back. He bore the weight as though it were a toy.

He seemed to be waiting. His bright gaze—too bright—lifting and darting around now and then. He never reacted to seeing her, even though she was sure his eyes had passed over her more than once by now.

Her boots felt heavy, and her heart thundered in her chest. How could he be here? how could he? He'd come after her, but he had not saved her. She remembered his hand in her hair, his terrified face, his wide blue eyes. Remembered the rage in his expression as he turned towards his own doom to fight Sephiroth.

She remembered waking up in Master Zagan's care, and hearing that she was one of few. That everyone else was gone. That the city was burned and all the people-all her friends, her family, people she'd known since she was a child...

All gone.

But there he stood anyway. Unmistakable, and yet somehow changed. Something wrong with the way he stood. Something too hard in his expression. But absolutely, undoubtedly, Cloud Strife.

She didn't know how long they both stood there, him idle and lost-had his eyes always been so wide and confused-and her just as unmoving. A ghost, she wondered first. But no, no ghost stood so calmly. Perhaps she had simply lost her mind at last. But he was so mundane. Nothing like the nightmares that had followed her for the last four years.

And after a moment, she realized he was not alone.

Cloud reacted first, his head lifting and turning away from her, towards the rooftops. Tifa took a moment to even think to tear her eyes away from him. If she stopped looking, would he just be gone?

She looked up in time to see a figure in a black cloak drop from above, the hood held over their face with one hand as they plummeted neatly in a billow of dark fabric.

Cloud waited as the dark figure approached him. The figure's other gloved hand extended slowly from the heavy cloak, and Cloud extended his hand in return, palm up, expectantly. He took the vial he'd been offered and nodded. Tifa recognized, distantly, the glow of a potion, and blinked out of her haze.

The sword, a potion, a fighter, a text about 'hired help...'

She broke forward out of her frozen stance and approached the pair briskly.

The dark figure tilted their covered head towards her, then shrank back behind Cloud in a fluid motion. Tifa watched them hunch their shoulders a touch, and the gloved hands tug the hood a little lower over their face. She couldn't see much past the shadows. Everything was dark in the slums. And was the person behind that hood wearing a mask?

Cloud turned on her, and for a moment she hesitated. His hand reached halfway to his sword, his eyes dazed-unrecognizing-but threatening. And had his eyes always been so GREEN?

"Cloud?" Tifa asked, suddenly unsure.

She took a half-step back from the suddenly aggressive man, her hands twitching in her gloves. She'd come prepared for a fight, but she knew him. She knew him so why didn't he know her?

The eyes she was staring into flashed, and for a moment she could have sworn they were slitted as a cat's. Then suddenly the confused aggression on Cloud's face morphed and melted into surprised recognition.

"Tifa?" he asked, his hand dropping to his side again, and his feet shifting out of the aggressive stance, scuffing over the ground. Suddenly his motions had turned from controlled and tight to so loose they appeared almost exhausted.

And he was so pale.

"It is you," Tifa said, shaking her head and stepping forward towards him. "I thought you were dead! What happened to you?"

"Happened to me?" Cloud parroted, sounding even more bewildered, before he blinked and shook his head hard, twice. She frowned, watching the crease between his brows as though something awful had just occurred to him.

"No, I... You're alive," He said, the words halting and too dry. Tifa itched to pass him something to drink. His hand was still closed around the potion, but his expression was distant and confused.

"You survived the reactor?" He stepped forward at last, flipping the potion so the narrow neck hung through a hook at his belt, leaving the bulb to rest upwards so he could approach her with his hands free.

Tifa dropped her PHS to the ground and threw her arms around him at the first sign of approachability. Her eyes lifted briefly to the form in the black cape, but they were turned mostly away, their head lowered.

Cloud went stiff as a rail, and she felt his body go tight-muscles and skin and bone, hard as industry, without a touch of spare weight on him. Then he let out a shaking breath and lifted his hands to rest carefully over the dark fall of her ponytail.

"You survived," He whispered again, as if cementing it in his mind.

"You too," Tifa replied, hugging him tighter. "I never thought I'd see anyone from Nibelheim again!"

Cloud made a soft grunt of sound, but it might have been a wheeze. She was hugging him pretty tightly after all. But he seemed to take it as permission, and tightened his arms around her back as well, hugging her close.

"What are you doing in Midgar?" She asked, propping her chin on his shoulder and watching in confusion as the dark shape started to slowly rub their gloved hands together anxiously. "Where have you BEEN?"

And what have you been eating, she wanted to ask. Her hands brushed over the broadsword on Cloud's back and she paused. She recognized it from somewhere. But hadn't that been-

"Where have I-"

Cloud backed out of her hug abruptly, making a strangled sound that had nothing to do with her hold. Tifa went still as stone, one hand outstretched towards him in worry. But the hooded figure had no such concerns. They went to Cloud's side, hunching to murmur in his ear. Tifa watched as Cloud's suddenly frightened, almost agonized expression morphed into calm control once again between one blink and another.

And suddenly it was like he was someone else entirely. His hip cocked to the side, his shoulders thrown back and an expression of cool competence taking over his face. Tifa felt deeply uneasy watching him.

"It's a good thing I made Soldier," Cloud joked dryly, a wry smile crossing his face. "Or I definitely wouldn't be here to say hi to you."

"Soldier?" Tifa repeated, thinking of the masked trooper.

"Yup." Cloud tugged at the shoulder-straps of the uniform he wore, and Tifa blinked at how dark it was. She hadn't even recognized it. "Not anymore, of course," He added, shaking his head. "Not after Nibelheim. These days my friend and I are mercenaries."

He's sick, Tifa realized suddenly, with a lurch of her stomach. Whatever happened in Nibelheim, or whatever happened to him after, something had gone wrong. This man, who'd come to try to help her, just like he promised. This man, who she'd quietly mourned, even though they'd barely known each other.

This last living, breathing piece of her home.

She couldn't just let him walk away without trying to help.

"What a coincidence," She breathed, trying to recover a smile. It came to her easily. She'd gotten good at smiling while her heart broke. "Some of my friends and I are in the market to hire someone for a little job we're running."

Cloud tilted his head, his blonde hair swaying. Behind him, the shadowed figure shifted uncomfortably.

"What sort of job?" He asked, with a glint in his eye that Tifa thought looked a little like hope. Or maybe desperation.

Barret was not happy, but Jesse was thrilled. Biggs and Wedge seemed anxious, but far from displeased with having some fighters on their side.

Cloud's shadow refused to name himself, and Cloud shrugged off Barret's objections. Marlene shied away from both of them, hiding behind the intimidating bulk of her father.

"We ain't playin' games here!" Barret barked, pointing at Tifa.

Tifa squared her shoulders and brushed past when Cloud tried to shift in front of her defensively. Cute, but not necessary in the slightest.

"You told me we could use a hired hand or two, I found us a hired hand."

"You found one a' them!" Barret accused, pointing his gun arm at her. Tifa didn't even flinch. He was always like this when there was a lot at stake. She knew as well as the little girl nodding fervently behind him that Barret was a soft heart on the inside.

"Ex-Soldier." Cloud chimed in, his voice dark and grim. "We don't work for Shinra anymore."

He spat the name Shinra like it tasted bad, and Tifa saw Barret's eyes narrow in consideration.

"I don't trust ya." Barret growled.

"So long as you can pay me, I don't care." Cloud shrugged. Easygoing, cold, strange, not the boy she'd known, but had she ever really known him?

"See, Tifa! He don't even care!"

"I'm making drinks," Tifa said, slipping around Barret easily and touching Marlene's hair with gentle fingers as she passed. The kid shouldn't have been involved in all of this, they all knew it, but she had nowhere else to go.

"Cloud, do you want anything?"

"Don't go inviting him to drinks!"

"Sure. Something strong. It takes a lot to touch me these days."

"What about your friend?"

"He doesn't drink."

Tifa paused in setting up her drinks on the bar, glancing to the figure hovering in the corner, the hood pulled down low, and otherwise completely still. Something about the way Cloud said that made her wonder if the figure didn't drink alcohol, or just didn't bother to drink at all…

"Tifa, I'm bein' serious."

"So am I, Barret. It's dangerous, we need help, I found us an ex-Soldier willing to take on Shinra. How do you feel about whiskey, Cloud?"

Cloud shrugged.

"He doesn' care about the planet at all!"

"Oh, you don't know that, Barret."

"He's right, I don't."

Tifa shot Cloud a dark look. I'm trying to get you the job, she thought in annoyance. Cloud glanced to her look and his brows furrowed in response. Confusion again. So pale, she thought.

"But I'll do my job," Cloud added, his eyes leaving Tifa to turn towards Barret again. "So long as you pay me, no problem. If you don't want our skills, I'm sure there are other people in the slums looking for some hired help."

"Let's give him a chance, Barret," Jesse said, placing her hand on their boss's gun arm. "We've got the tech side covered, but we're going to be fighting Shinra goons this time…"

"Takes one to kill one." Wedge said with a laugh that was almost happy, but a little too bitter, a little too sour, a little too tired of death already for a terrorist.

Tifa felt for him. She remembered being that uncomfortable. That was years ago now, though. She placed a wedge of lime on the edge of Cloud's glass. She hesitated a moment, sizing him up. Then she slid the bar to him quickly down the line of the counter. Cloud caught it without even looking.

It would have been a lot cooler if he hadn't looked so surprised.

"We're fighting Shinra?" He asked, lifting the glass to his lips.

Tifa watched his eyes tighten as he took a sip, and his bright eyes flicker to her. She smirked. He'd asked for a strong drink after all. He looked like he was holding back from coughing like a kid taking his first drink of whiskey.

"You got a problem with it?"

"No."

"Really?" Biggs narrowed his eyes, watching the strangers. "They're your old comrades, right?"

"There are no comrades in Shinra." Cloud said, darkly. "Only people who haven't stabbed your back yet."

Tifa glanced to the figure in black as he took a seat, his hood bobbing as he nodded silent agreement. She felt it more than saw it as he turned his attention to her. The dark under the hood was almost impenetrable. He must have been wearing something dark over his face too. She could only see a soft glint where his eyes were before he turned his gaze away again.

"And your creepy friend?" Barret asked sharply. "I don't want no freaks around my little girl."

Cloud scoffed, glancing around the room. His opinion on the people gathered was clear from the attitude. Tifa couldn't help but clench her jaw. He had no idea…

"I think my friend's the least of your problems." He said mildly. "But he's not going to touch your kid. He can carry his weight."

"He fight?" Barret asked. "He ain't even got a weapon."

"He fights." Cloud said, shortly. "Not everyone has a gun on their arm."

"Yeah, and what exactly is wrong with unarmed fighters?" Tifa asked, crossing her arms and scowling at Barret.

Cloud balked. Looked to Tifa in confusion.

"You fight?" He asked.

Tifa silently reminded herself that the last time the blond had seen her she was still a small town princess. She tried not to take offense to his tone. If he was anyone else, though, she'd have laid him flat. As it was, he seemed like he'd taken enough brain damage without her making it worse…

"Yes," she said simply. "That's why I joined Avalanche in the first place."

The figure in the corner stood abruptly, his cowl turned towards her in alarm. The shine of his eyes in the dim light was…

"Chill." Cloud said, glancing back to his strange, silent shadow.

"He an ex-Soldier too?" Barret asked roughly, scowling. "I hear they took on the last Avalanche. Wiped 'em out before they could change the world."

"I don't care, and neither does he." Cloud said with a shrug. "We need the work, and we're not tied to Shinra anymore. We'll work for whoever."

"What's the harm, Barret." Tifa said before their leader could object again. "We're on a time crunch, and they're the best I had. I can vouch for Cloud. He's not the sort of guy who would play turncoat."

I hope, she thought to herself.

"Damn it all." Barret cursed. He pointed his gun arm at Cloud. The blond didn't move, but his shadow slid forward with a rustle of fabric, hovering at Cloud's side. "You two better follow my orders!"

Cloud shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. For a moment, he looked like the awkward kid Tifa had seen in town, had almost known. As he took a sip of a drink he obviously didn't like and gave that disinterested shrug.

"So long as you've got money."

"Gah!" Barret snapped his gun arm spitting in fury. It wasn't loaded. Tifa rolled her eyes at him and swallowed down her own drink in a smooth motion. She felt like she could have used at least five more drinks before she was ready to face the day.

"Marlene, honey, do you want to watch the bar while we have a meeting?" she asked, even as Barret ruffled his daughter's hair fondly and stomped off to the jukebox against the wall.

Marlene's eyes brightened, and she ran eagerly around the bar. Tifa scooted her tall bar chair up to the mixing station and let the child squirrel up into place. The shy girl's smile turned impish and delighted with her newfound promotion and height.

"What'r you havin'?" She asked Cloud in her soft, bright voice. The blond blinked. Tifa saw the barest traces of a skeletal smile touch his lips.

"I have no idea." He said, lifting his glass to her in a little toast.

"Hurry it up!" Barret snapped at them. "We've got a briefin' to get through!"

"Just press the button if you need us," Tifa reminded the child, placing a hand on her hair, straightening her cute bob after Barret's affectionate ruffle.

"I know it, woman!" Marlene said brightly.

Tifa scowled at Barret.

"You are rubbing off on her."

"God damnit, Tifa!"

Jesse laughed though, and Biggs was grinning. Wedge was still watching Cloud with a confused interested. The shadow said nothing, but he followed when Cloud moved.

Tifa let them go first—the secret door couldn't carry too many people at a time after all. She paused from following when Marlene tugged on a lock of her hair in the suddenly quiet upstairs of 7th Heaven.

"He's scary." Marlene said in a quiet voice.

"The man in black?" Tifa asked, turning to the little girl fiddling with one of her shakers on the bar.

"Uhuh. Your friend."

"Cloud? He's not scary, Marlene."

"I think so. He doesn't look at things right. He looks like…"

She trailed off, her eyes going haunted for a moment. Tifa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the little girl in silent support.

"Sometimes daddy gets that look." She said softly into Tifa's shoulder. "Like he's angry at something I can't see. It's scary, even though I know he's not angry at me."

"Cloud's… Sick, I think." Tifa said softly, rubbing Marlene's back. "That's why I brought him home. Because I want to help him feel better. I promise he won't hurt you, Marlene."

Marlene made a soft humming sound, and when Tifa pulled back she found Marlene studying her with a surprisingly grim and serious look for such a little face. She crossed her arms, like her father did, and gave one solemn nod.

"I'm trustin' you." She said firmly.

"Don't worry," Tifa said, making a muscle in return. Marlene grinned at the size of Tifa's bicep, and squeezed it curiously. "I'm no pushover."

"Wow," Marlene said happily, like she did every time, pressing against Tifa's rock-hard muscle with delight. Then she made a muscle of her own and nodded firmly.

"No pushover." She agreed. Tifa squeezed her muscle and ooh-ed appreciatively before waving to the little girl and heading down to join the others.

"No tasting your drinks!" She ordered.

"Duh," Marlene said, pulling out the wand and squirting a little bit of soda into a shot glass.

Tifa joined the others downstairs, and grimaced as she walked into the room thick with tension. And with heat in general. It was a small space. Perfect for clandestine meetings between five people, but with seven it was starting to feel a little tight.

"'Bout time." Barret snapped roughly. "Let's get to work. The planet can't take much more of this, so we've gotta get a move on!"

"Hippy," Cloud muttered to himself, still fiddling with his glass though it was more than clear that he didn't actually want the drink. Tifa felt her lips twitching, and tried not to smirk. Something strong, he'd said. Next time she'd make him a nice sweet dark and stormy. It was perfect for a Cloud, after all.

And then the time for games was up. And the time for the mission started. And looking at the schematics for the reactor still gave her a twisting sensation in her gut. Still reminded her of a day full of flames. But this time would be different. This time they were the ones in control. This time, it was her who was going to tear down a world in fire.

And even if Cloud didn't seem to be taking the same dark pleasure in it that she was, she was glad he was there. They were the only pieces of home left. And how perfect was it that two Nibelheim kids would be helping to tear Shinra apart.

If she could get him to stay. If she could afford his work long enough for him to understand why it was so important. If he was still the sort of person who would care. If he'd ever been…

Cloud Strife was terrifying in battle. Guards died on his blade. He didn't even twitch. He spared her a glance or two, clearly somewhat impressed by her skill, but he didn't talk much while he worked. Barret tried to initiate conversation. To get a better read on either one of their mercenary companions. Biggs and Wedge joined in, and Jesse too. Each displaying their skills, seeming hopeful that Cloud would spare some attention for those he was working with. But Cloud was silent at best, and outright derisive at worst.

But he was terrifying when he moved. He slid liquid across the battlefield. Wielded the massive blade on his back like it weighed nothing, though the one attack he missed, Tifa saw it carve an awful gouge in the floor with an awful shrieking noise. She was really starting to believe that he HAD made Soldier, with the way he moved, though she still didn't understand how that could be possible, or how he'd been in Nibelheim at all that day to try and avenge her.

As scary as he was, his robed friend was scarier. He was so still, so silent, that Tifa found herself forgetting he was there until occasionally the shadow would wick past Cloud and snap the neck of one of the gunmen aiming at them. When he moved, he seemed unavoidable-inevitable-like a lightning strike. But he didn't move every time. Cloud got hit, and hurt. So did Tifa, and Barret, and the shadow would be eerily still and silent. But in the strange, seemingly random moments that he did move, he always felled one of their opponents.

Barret was furious. Cloud just tossed back a potion and rolled his shoulders as the bullets dropped to the ground, healing out of his skin.

"What's your problem?" Barret roared at the man.

The shadow only wandered to one of the corpses and dug in the trooper's pockets before passing what it found to Cloud. Tifa tried not to shudder at how matter of fact the exchange was. They needed all the help they could get, and if looting the bodies helped, then it helped. She wasn't about to draw her moral line there. Not while they were about to blow up a reactor. People were going to die, things would be destroyed. She didn't have any illusions about this being something good and wholesome they were doing.

It was just something necessary.

"Let's keep moving," Cloud said dryly. "They know we're here now for sure."

Tifa drank one of her own potions—she'd stocked up before they left—and followed after Cloud, towards the door that Jesse was hacking into. Terrifying, thought Tifa the small-town girl who'd known Cloud as small and awkward. Useful, thought Tifa the terrorist, who'd grown up under fire and ashes.

And then it was time. And they set the bomb, and they ran. The timer ticked down as a vast, awful Guard Scorpion blocked their way. It was simple, with the three of them. Between Barret and Cloud, they probably could have handled it. But Tifa wasn't about to leave them alone. The Shadow only hit twice, bare handed as she was. The first, he jumped the scorpion's claws strike its stinging tail. Tifa watched the monster's stinger drop useless to the floor. The second hit came after the monster got a claw around Cloud. It neatly removed the claw from the fight entirely.

Tifa tried not to stare at him. Instead she clenched her jaw and struggled to match his power. She was relieved when her limit break hit. She might have taken too much damage, for it to get to that, but she wasn't about to be upstaged by a Halloween reject. She heard Barret's grunt of impressed approval as she pummeled their opponent with bare fists, cracking the external skeleton with every strike.

When it crumbled in a clatter of organic armor, Cloud swirled his sword neatly before himself before sliding it in behind his back. Tifa stretched out her aching arms over her head and rolled her shoulders, giving him a wry look. Barret pumped his gun arm once in celebration. The shadow stood eerily still, unmoved by victory.

"We've gotta fuckin' move!" Barret hollered, gesturing roughly towards the door. "Timer ain't built for bugs, just for runnin'!"

"Arachnids." murmured a low voice.

Tifa whirled on the Shadow, but if he had spoken, he was done now. He moved forward swiftly, following on Cloud's heels, one hand rising to his hood again, holding it in place. Tifa only spared a moment to narrow her eyes in confusion. Then she was running with them.

Tifa sucked in a breath when she saw Jesse crouched on the unsteady walkways. She should have been well clear by now.

"What happened?" Jesse asked, breathless and stressed as they caught up to her. "I heard fighting—"

"No time." Cloud barked, "Get moving."

"I'm stuck," Jesse whispered, glancing to her leg, trapped by a piece of catwalk.

Tifa sprinted up and grabbed the metal, heaving against it. It shifted under her strength, and Cloud followed her lead. He grabbed Jesse her by the wrist and towing her out of the wreckage before scooping her up in his arms like she weighed nothing.

Tifa wasn't sure whether to be annoyed on Jesse's behalf or jealous. From the awed, pleased look on Jesse's face, she didn't think outrage or annoyance were warranted.

They burst out of the reactor, sprinting towards the train. And for a moment, Tifa thought it wouldn't happen. Thought surely that they weren't really ready for this. That the bomb would fail, or the Shinra would stop them, or something would go awry. It wasn't until the explosion rocked the sector and they piled onto the train that she knew it was real.

"We're splittin' up!" Barret roared in the following chaos. "Meet at the train!"

Tifa didn't have a chance to object before Cloud placed Jesse on her feet and leapt on top of one of the low, flat security buildings around the reactor. The shadow followed him, leaving the rest of them on the ground.

"Come on, Jesse!" Tifa encouraged, keeping her voice as steady as she could as she ducked under her friend's arm. "Lean on me, okay? Let's get to that train!"

Her heartbeat thundered in her chest, and she felt strangely distant. Strangely unreal. While she was running, it was easy. But then they were on the train, and suddenly still. She glanced around, startled to see everyone there on time but her friend. Had Cloud bailed on them after all? And after all his talk of getting paid? Or was he in trouble, or…

The train lurched into motion, and she caught Barret's eye, uncertain and worried. "Cloud," She started. Then something landed heavily on the roof, the sound followed by another, heavier, firmer. She looked up sharply, tensing, ready for Shinra troops to fall upon them. But instead the hatch opened to admit a barely-disheveled blond and the tall dark shape that followed him.

Wedge was the first to let out a whoop of victory, but Biggs joined in, with a huge grin. Jesse let out a soft breath, a hand curling at her armored chest like she was still a schoolgirl. Barret shooed them all towards the passenger cars, where they would be at least slightly less exposed than they were in the luggage compartment.

The others were happy. Cheered. Glowing with victory. Tifa watched Cloud, silent and still, mirthless, serious. She watched Barret, scowling and intense even as he shifted and moved more than ever, trying to keep calm and cool while he was clearly so tense.

She wished she knew the thing to say. Wished she had any idea what she was doing. She knew there was only dust and grit on her hands, but it felt like blood.

Fine, she thought. It's fine. The Shinra signed up to spill their blood. My hometown did not.

The thought was almost comfortingly vindictive. But she knew it was a lie. There were civilian workers in that reactor—people living near it, people living off it. Lives had been irreparably changed now. Hers included.

She was surprised when Cloud approached her, looking like he wanted to talk. He hesitated, his head canted to the side, his eyes narrowed slightly. She was reminded of her cat. The way he'd acted when she'd first saved him. How he'd sidled towards her uncertainly for affection. How his eyes had stayed focused and intense, even as his body language seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Where have you been, she wondered, glad for another mystery to cling to.

"You've been in Midgar the whole time?" Cloud asked softly after a moment, as the train rocketed down the track.

"No," Tifa shook her head a little. "I traveled a lot with my master, training. But I got tired of waiting for the Shinra to fall, so when I met Barret…"

Cloud nodded his understanding silently.

You weren't a Soldier, Tifa wanted to blurt. I know you weren't. I saw the Soldiers in town. I guided them. If you were there, you were one of those troopers in a helmet. Why didn't you say hello? Why didn't I see you until I was bleeding on the reactor floor? Until it was all too late to even say hello? Why are you lying?

"Have you been in town long?" She asked instead.

"No," Cloud said, shaking his head. "Not long. We just got here. Glad we happened to run across each other. So long as your boss comes through with payment, maybe we can fight again some time."

His eyes were off her now. Flicking to Barret. To Jesse. She saw his gaze narrow at the maps Jesse was working on. He excused himself with a small nod to her and crossed to the other woman to ask after their intent. Tifa let out a slow breath, watching the stiff way he stalked—so starkly opposed to how he moved when he fought. The Shadow settled against a wall of the train, by the doors, watching. She assumed. She still couldn't see him. If he was hot from all the fighting, he didn't show it.

Likewise, if Cloud was hurt, he didn't show it. He moved through the cabin, picking up pieces of information from her friends. Barret's animosity towards him hadn't subsided. Neither had Cloud's insistence on his pay.

"Come back tomorrow," Barret grumbled as they stepped off onto the Sector seven plate. "I'll have your money. And another job, if you think you can handle it."

"Handle it?" Cloud asked dryly. "You're lucky I was along this time. We'll talk about the next plan after I get paid."

"For now we should all rest," Tifa stepped in, physically coming between the two of them.

Her hand rested lightly on Barret's bicep, and Cloud's shoulder. Barret sighed under the touch. Cloud shied away. She pretended not to notice, and let her hand drop to her side.

"Do you have somewhere to stay?" She asked, looking to Cloud. "I might be able to—"

"We'll look around the sector." Cloud said calmly, his gaze flat, staring right through her. "Meet you at 7th Heaven in the morning. I wouldn't run out on us, if I were you."

"How dare you—"

Cloud shrugged off Barret's annoyance, nodded to Tifa, and then spared a brief nod to the others as well as Jesse called out a farewell. But he looked uncomfortable. Confused. Grim. Tifa watched him turn away, wandering over to Johnny. His shadow didn't acknowledge any of them, but followed a few paces behind Cloud, his cowl shifting slowly as he looked around, aware and alert.

"You brought us some real winners." Barret muttered. It wasn't complimentary.

"They were effective, though, right?" Tifa offered.

"Lay off him, Barret." Jesse said, her voice a little too sing-song.

She's sweet on him, Tifa thought, with an unfounded sting of jealousy. She brushed it off. She had no claim on Cloud. No claim but that he was all she had left of a past she'd thought was gone forever.

"Yeah," Wedge said. "He was pretty amazing!"

"That other guy though," Biggs muttered, a hand lifting to rub at his chin. "He's… Odd."

"We can talk it over at base." Tifa insisted. "I'm sure Marlene's missing us. And if we want to pay Cloud, we'd better get some legit customers in our clandestine business, if you know what I mean."

"We can swing it." Barret muttered.

"This time." Tifa said, crossing her arms. "But I don't think you've exactly won him over to the cause. If we want his backup again, we'll need more funding."

She ignored his muttering about gods-damned selfish Soldiers, glancing back to where Cloud was studying the giant shot-out screen above the sector. She had an urge, for a moment, to go to him. To try to rouse a smile out of him with the story of how Barret had shot the thing to pieces in annoyance at seeing President Shinra's face on it.

Then the Shadow leaned in close by Cloud's ear, speaking quietly to him, and Tifa saw Cloud's lips curl just a little. She wasn't sure if it counted as a smile. It looked more like pain. Or cruelty. She looked away before she could see more, and hurried to the place she understood, where she could lose herself in fixing booze for desperate people until the sun rose.

* * *

"What are we doing?"

"Making some cash. We've been living off rags too long. You don't even have a weapon."

"Not with her."

"She's our best bet."

"She won't thank you."

"She'll never know. One more mission, maybe two. Get some money out of their weird Shinra revenge kick, and move on. And you can't tell me it isn't a little satisfying messing up their stuff."

"You don't want to leave."

A pause. A hum of sound.

"I'm tired. Just a couple of days. I won't let her get too close to you."

The quiet shift of fabric. Shining eyes glancing up to the black sky overhead, the stars blotted out by the plate. Silence between them the long night after. There was never much to say. Never much they didn't already know and still dared to face.

"Just a couple days." He agreed eventually.

But the other was already asleep, pillowed on dark fabric on the rooftop. Still, and pale, and sickly. He didn't move as black leather gloves slid through his blonde hair silently, absently, and shining eyes stayed fixed on the plate above them.


End file.
